


Unsteady

by Slothquisitor



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Lyrium Addiction, Lyrium Withdrawal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 13:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5542094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slothquisitor/pseuds/Slothquisitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the song of the same name by X Ambassadors. Cullen is having a particularly bad withdrawal headache and Mara comes to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unsteady

He gripped the side of his desk holding himself up, willing his body to obey his mind, to remain upright despite the pain that had become all too familiar.   
Most days it was bearable, a tea Mara gave him helped. Sometimes her healing magic helped too, but more often than not he had to wait it out. There was little he could do beyond bearing the pounding pain and reminding himself that it would pass eventually.   
Today was one of those days and he was not enduring it well. He took a shaky breath as the pain blossomed behind his eyes. It didn’t matter how many times he had dealt with this, the pain always surprised him. It often hit out of nowhere, souring the bouts of time where he had actually felt good.   
Perhaps if he laid down for just a little while, that would help. He steeled himself and began to walk towards the ladder to his loft, his face a cold sheet of endurance.   
He stumbled, his footing unsteady, slamming his shoulder into his bookcase with a loud thud. He groaned, the movement had caused the pain behind his eyes to explode. His stomach flipped and he braced himself against the wave of nausea that washed over him.   
Cullen was not aware the door to his office had opened at any point, nor did he hear her quiet footsteps approaching him.   
“Cullen,” her voice barely more than a whisper, he pushed himself to focus past the pain and on her. He could see the concern in her worried eyes. “Tell me what to do.”   
“Chair,” he rasped. Eyes flitting over to the chair she’d insisted on being placed in his office. It was her chair, a place she often occupied with a book in her lap while he worked. He’d protested at first, but realized he liked having it there. When she was away from Skyhold he would often pretend she was sitting in the chair while he worked, even her imagined presence was often a comfort. Right now he was just grateful the chair was there, he needed to sit down.   
She wasted no time slipping her small frame underneath his arm. He immediately leaned into her. “Don’t let go,” he warned. When he woke up to her, his fingers searching over the expanse of the bed they shared to hold her, she was the anchor that reminded him the dreams weren’t real.   
She tightened her grip and whispered, “I won’t.” She was his anchor now too, as they hobbled toward the chair. Each movement jarring and sending shockwaves of pain through his body.   
She lowered him gingerly into the chair, and he sank into it thankfully. He felt her cold fingers on his face, “Cullen, would you like me to…”  
She was always asking permission, especially after he had told her everything that happened to him at Kinloch. All he could manage was a slight nod. He felt her go to work immediately, her expert fingers tracing soothing shapes on his scalp. The relief, though instantaneous, was incomplete, but his mind was pulled from the fog.   
“Mara,” her name was a prayer on his lips.   
“Hmmm….” she responded, continuing to concentrate on her work.   
“Thank you.”  
She paused momentarily, eyes meeting his, and pressed a kiss to his temple, “Any time, ma vhenan.”


End file.
